Record-breaking Rovers set a new ‘highest away win’ record after beating Harrogate Town, 8-0, to advance to the Carabao Cup Third Round and Jon Dahl Tomasson couldn’t hide his delight after watching his young side show their quality and his ‘principles’. The Dane, who celebrated his 47th birthday on Tuesday, praised his players for their discipline and execution, whilst speaking with RoversTV.
“It’s incredibly rare to score such a high number of goals in a competitive fixture, but we all know that if we don’t take these kinds of games seriously, you can lose and be embarrassed. There have already been a lot of upsets, this season, which is something we know very well after our wins at West Ham United in the Third Round and away at Leicester City in the FA Cup, last season. I think tonight’s performance was really mature and professional and the key to the game was starting with intensity which we did. We played forwards, we were on the front-foot and we score two great goals.
“You could see that, what we had worked on throughout pre-season, was beginning to emerge in the final third. Quick play, principles and all the right things that I want to see was on show. Seven different goalscorers, a clean-sheet and a victory. I would have loved to have scored ten goals, but eight is brilliant. Some of the goals we scored, particularly in open play, were really beautiful. We all know that it can be difficult to play against a mid or low-block, if you don’t do the right things or take too many touches, but the boys did a really good job.
“I think it’s important, for me as a Head Coach, to see the identity of the team. I want to be dominant, both with and without the ball and I think we saw that today. We saw a lot of the principles of how I want to play, but of course, it’s different. We can talk about it for a long time, but we want to see it applied in the games, and that’s the hardest part. I thought the boys did that really well and put in a very mature performance, given the extremely young team we have. It was also good to see the senior debuts and goals! It’s been a lovely night for the young lads.
“The professional performance allowed us to bring on the young boys. I started with Dom (Hyam) and changed the ten around him. That was a huge risk, but I’m quite stretched with the other positions! The boys did an extremely professional job so that I could take Dom and Harry (Pickering) out at half-time. When you see the goals, the youngsters performing and the fans being happy, you know that your team is doing a lot of good things and the fans are enjoying it. I think our academy will enjoy tonight as well. They deserve a lot of credit, because they’re doing a lot of the hard work with the players during their early years.
“We all know that there are a lot of people who work extremely hard behind the scenes at football clubs, both on and off the pitch. They work hard to improve everything and help the team. I think we’re seeing the benefit of all the young players who have made the step up to my group. Some of them are under-18s and under-21s, but they train with us in the first-team, so it’s good to see them learning the identity. Huge credit must be given to the young players for learning and taking their chances, but again, the academy deserve praise for their amazing work.
“I want to keep these young lads around the first-team because it helps them learn how we play. That way, they will very clearly understand what to and what not to expect from myself; I’m very clear and concrete with my philosophy. I know exactly what I want, and I think we saw that in the final third today as we executed a lot of great work that we’d worked on since the start of pre-season. We succeeded against one of the most difficult defensive scenarios, today, creating chances against a low-block.
“Tonight, is a night that those youngsters will never forget. First starts, first goals, a clean-sheet and a win. As a player, you should be proud of those achievements, as should your family, because they have also been working hard to help them from an early age. Then, the players should only be thinking about one thing; ‘I want more. I want to run through a brick wall, every day and every night to become better.’ That attitude should want them to pressure their teammates, and create competition for places. One game is nice, one goal is nice, but it’s not enough.
“Although we got through, the young lads’ opportunity is not just cup games, they have opportunities to catch my eye every day in training and during the internal games or friendlies in midweek. They are always good opportunities to stand out and also show you’re capable of doing the right things consistently.”
